In Lansing, this morning, while my car was being repaired at Snyder's Repair Shop on Ford Hill Rd (excellent place, specializes in foreign cars, great waiting room with bird feeders over garden outside). Ford Hill Rd. is a little dead-end off Lansingville Rd. just north of intersection with Lockerby Hill /Jerry Smith Roads (those roads change names there).
Right off the bat while walking down the hill to end of road and into the large NYSEG-owned, partially-thicketed meadow with small trees and a narrow woods edge around some of it, I found a pair of Chipping Sparrows, a Song Sparrow, then a pair of Bluebirds (checking out a blue bird nest box in a yard). Robins were all over the place, along with a few House Sparrows. I heard a lot of RW Blackbirds and Grackles. I walked around the gate and into the meadow with its great view across the Salmon Creek valley; it was sunny and quiet. After clomping around a thicket and a muddy ATV track, I started hearing more birds. I looked up ahead and saw a beautiful Brown Thrasher (FOY for me) sitting near the top of a small tree singing away in the sun. An all-yellow male Goldfinch sat in another tree nearby. Soon some Black Capped Chickadees appeared very near where I stood and Song Sparrows flitted about. More Robins explored the ground. I circled around to another ATV trail that runs in the small woods along a farm field above the meadow; saw some Crows. Not much else there except 2 Downy Woodpeckers drumming in response to the other (I think). I ended up back at the end of Ford Hill Rd. and went back into the meadow, where I heard some faint Field Sparrow songs. I walked downhill and stood still listening and lo and behold 2 Field Sparrows flew right behind me into a bush! I got a nice close look at them. (Also, FOY for me). Then I heard and saw 2 E. Phoebes and watched them flycatching with their little circular flight off the branch and back again. As I walked back to the end of Ford Hill road, I found a pair of N. Flickers working the lawn where the Bluebirds had previously been. It was a glorious morning! I have heard that we are not supposed to go into this meadow area, but the man who runs the repair shop said the locals all go there, so I thought I would too. My bad. Donna L. Scott Lansing, -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
